'You can hear the screams when Harry Styles has arrived': Dave Benett on photographing London's biggest star

I’ve been photographing Harry Styles since the One Direction days. He hadn’t blossomed by then. He was obviously already the beautiful boy, but no one realised just how talented he was. Apart from Simon Cowell, maybe. 

He’s grown up in front of my eyes; he’s a great survivor. And the girls go mad for him. You can always hear when he’s arriving somewhere, with all the screaming fans – girls and boys screaming. He actually has to live in secret places because the fans are so crazy about him. I’m lucky enough to usually photograph him inside events and parties, but on the red carpet it’s chaos.

There’s something Jagger-ish about Harry. You think of Mick Jagger when he was young, or of Bowie as Ziggy Stardust… that baton is always handed down through the generations. He has that ability to change his look and pull it off. He’s very stylish, very Generation Z. That non gender thing works really well on camera. There’s nothing worse than photographing someone who doesn’t make an effort to look great. 

My favourite photograph I’ve taken of him was at the Brit Awards last year. He was wearing a giant flower round his neck that covered half of his face, which didn’t make the job particularly easy. Perhaps a case of style taking over from practicality, but it looked great in the end. His stylist Harry Lambert is the man behind that slightly edgy look.

The great thing about Harry is he has kept his home friends, he hasn’t lost touch with his roots. He’s a very nice guy who has stayed humble. And most importantly, he photographs very well.